#nausea

it’s not just a middle finger, it’s homeopathic homicide.

and just think of the knock-on effects on the natural gas market.

“The programs are contending with rising costs as H.I.V. drugs become more expensive even as health care subsidies have expired, sending premiums soaring.” // why on earth are HIV drugs getting more expensive? shouldn’t some of these cocktails be going off-patent now?

and the best defense is a good offense, amirite?

You have more information about this than I do. But my sense is that Trump took a correct posture (stopped clock, all of that), noted an opportunity for state reformation by a leadership willing to renounce past hostility, and has been supportive, while Israel has been if anything mildly disruptive.

would you characterize Israel as having been supportive of consolidation of a Syrian state under its new apparent leadership?

I would have supported an organized effort to constrain Israel. I don’t know what the counterfactual would have been if power were less unipolar in the region.

Maybe! Again, I’ve no particular brief for Platner. But it is absolutely unavoidable among American politicians to have associated with absolutely abhorrent Islamophobes.

the latest outrage is about going on a podcast. i wonder if we held people to the same standard for going on Bill Maher. i don’t know, to be clear, whether i think Platner is beyond the pale or not. but i do not think standards of outrage are being applied very consistently.

i’m not saying that at all. i’m saying that large-scale regional war is an undesirable outcome, and whatever interventions might have occurred, what seems to be on the verge of occurring now is… not great. i’m not defending the behavior of Biden or Gulf states wrt Gaza.

i feel like we are getting a good dose of Keynes’ “madmen in authority” these days.

demanding US politicians be innocent of any association with antisemites may become as challenging as demanding US politicians be innocent of any association with islamophobes.

one of the few good things you could say about Biden’s foreign policy record is, despite the risks and provocations caused by Gaza, Lebanon, etc., they did manage to avoid a full-scale regional war.

he should go on rogan.

maybe so. i’m not a huge UAE fan generally speaking. nevertheless, whatever the motivation, it’s a real kindness to people who suddenly find themselves in a rough situation, and i’m grateful for any and all such kindnesses.

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the empathy and hospitality in this is refreshing to see from a state. ht @macsquirelera.bsky.social

we imagined twitter might spark liberal revolutions in places like saudi arabia but instead what seems to be occurring is the saudification of everywhere.

We all do. It's inescapable.